Talons whip Gladiators 65-44.

altTULSA, OK— It bears repeating: In arena football as in open field football, defense wins games.

After an embarrassing 63-42 loss at the hands of the Spokane Shock last week, it was imperative for the Tulsa Talons to get back to their winning ways at home.  The fact that the last time they played in the amazing BOK Center resulted in their first loss ever since moving into the building added to the urgency, but either way the Talons needed a big boost.

Against the Cleveland Gladiators on Saturday night, the Talons D answered the call in a BIG way.

Talons defensive masters Steve Watson, Terrell Mingo and Jamar Ransom put relentless pressure on Gladiator quarterback John Dutton and forced him to throw 2 interceptions, intentionally ground the ball in the end zone for a safety, and basically made life very difficult for the leagues leading passer. 

The Talons offense did their part to secure the win as well.

Justin Allgood threw 23 completions on 33 attempts for five touchdowns and 85 yards, and Talons ace receiver Donovan Morgan had 2 TDs on 8 catches for 271 yards.  Jeff Hughley added to his impressive board of statistics with two touchdowns of his own on nine catches for 101 yards, and Carlese Frankin added a touchdown, seven catches and 88 yards. 

{gallery}sports/talons/2010/game_06/gallery{/gallery}

Photos by: Kevin Pyle

The win at home takes the Talons to 7-5 and  into their second bye week this season with a 2 and a half game lead over the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgs, who beat Dallas at home by the surprisingly low score (for arena football) of 35-31. It’s also good enough to keep them at the top of the AFL American Conference Southwest Division. Cleveland drops to 5-7,  at the bottom of the National Conference’s Midwest Division, will move on to face Orlando on the road next weekend. 

The Talons return to action July 10th against the Bossier Shreveport Battle Wings in the BOK Center.

Cleveland Gladiators 14  10  6  14  44
Tulsa Talons 13  22  7  23  65

 

Scoring Summary

Qtr. Description Pl-Yd TOP V-H
1st 13:53 CLE – Chris Johnson 39 yd pass from John Dutton (Matt Denny kick) 1-39 7 – 0
1st 09:42 TUL – Jeff Hughley 21 yd pass from Justin Allgood (Marco Cabozzoli kick no good) 6-45 7 – 6
1st 06:02 CLE – Ben Nelson 14 yd pass from John Dutton (Matt Denny kick) 5-45 14 – 6
1st 02:41 TUL – Odie Armstrong 2 yd run (Marco Cabozzoli kick) 4-35 14 – 13
2nd 09:16 CLE – Ben Nelson 15 yd pass from John Dutton (Matt Denny kick) 1-15 21 – 13
2nd 07:18 TUL – Jeff Hughley 17 yd pass from Justin Allgood (Marco Cabozzoli kick) 2-43 21 – 20
2nd 01:00 TUL – Jamar Ransom 43 yd interception return (Jeff Hughley run) 0-0 21 – 28
2nd 00:13 TUL – Donovan Morgan 7 yd pass from Justin Allgood (Marco Cabozzoli kick) 3-19 21 – 35
2nd 00:00 CLE – Matt Denny 32 yd field goal 4-20 24 – 35
3rd 10:00 CLE – Brent Holmes 14 yd pass from John Dutton (Matt Denny kick no good) 1-4 30 – 35
3rd 06:02 TUL – Donovan Morgan 15 yd pass from Justin Allgood (Marco Cabozzoli kick) 6-48 30 – 42
4th 14:22 TUL – Odie Armstrong 1 yd run (Marco Cabozzoli kick) 5-39 30 – 49
4th 13:52 TUL – 0 yd scores on a safety 1–4 30 – 51
4th 09:54 TUL – Odie Armstrong 4 yd run (Marco Cabozzoli kick) 6-44 30 – 58
4th 03:37 TUL – Carlese Franklin 43 yd pass from Justin Allgood (Marco Cabozzoli kick) 4-30 30 – 65
4th 00:44 CLE – Ben Nelson 3 yd pass from John Dutton (Matt Denny kick) 6-45 37 – 65
4th 00:11 CLE – Ben Nelson 23 yd pass from John Dutton (Matt Denny kick) 4-47 44 – 65

Team Stats

  Cleveland Gladiators Tulsa Talons
First Downs 22 23
  Rushing 1 4
  Passing 21 19
  Penalty 0 0
  Punts 0 0
  Yards Per Punt 0 0
Kickoff Return Yds 72 55
  Returns – Average 8 – 9 6 – 9.2
Interception Ret Yds 28 56
  Returns – Average 3 – 9.3 2 – 28
Fumbles Lost 1-0 0-0
3rd-Down Conversions 2-8 2-3
4th-Down Conversions 0-3 1-1
  Cleveland Gladiators Tulsa Talons
Total Offense 338 312
  Total Plays 54 45
  Yards Per Play 6.3 6.9
Rushing Yards 0 38
  Attempts 4 10
  Yards Per Rush 0 3.8
Passing Yards
  Attempts 49 35
  Complete 32 24 
  Intercepted 2 3
  Yards Per Pass 7 7.8
Touchdowns 6 9
  Rushing 0 3
  Passing 6 5
  Other 0 1
Penalties – Yards 9 – 60 10 – 36

Cleveland Gladiators

Tulsa Talons
Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
John Dutton 2 -12 0 0
Brent Holmes 1 6 0 6
Ben Nelson 1 6 0 6
Rushing ATT YDS TD LG
Michael Potts 1 1 0 1
Odie Armstrong 9 37 3 16
Passing ATT COMP INT YDS TD
John Dutton 49 32 2 345 6
Passing ATT COMP INT YDS TD
Justin Allgood 33 23 2 271 5
Michael Potts 2 1 1 3 0
Receiving REC YDS TD LG
Brent Holmes 10 98 1 19
Chris Johnson 8 156 1 55
Russell Monk 1 10 0 10
Ben Nelson 10 62 4 23
Victor Williams 3 19 0 10
Receiving REC YDS TD LG
Donovan Morgan 8 85 2 18
Jeff Hughley 9 101 2 21
Carlese Franklin 7 88 1 43
Fumbles FUM LOST REC YDS
John Dutton 1 0 0 0
Fumbles FUM LOST REC YDS
Kicking FG LG XP PTS
Matt Denny 1 40 5 8
Kicking FG LG XP PTS
Marco Cabozzoli 0 0 7 7
Kick Return NO YDS TD LG
Brent Holmes 3 9 0 5
Davion Mitchell 4 52 0 26
Unknown Player 1 11 0 11
Kick Return NO YDS TD LG
Jeff Hughley 5 55 0 25
Jamar Ransom 1 0 0 0
Defense U-A SCK TFL FF
Donovan Arp 3 – 0 0 1 0
Michael Bragg 4 – 2 0 1 0
Carlos Campbell 5 – 3 0 0 0
Tim Cheatwood 1 – 0 0 0 0
Anthony Hoke 3 – 1 0 0 0
Chris Johnson 2 – 0 0 0 0
Davion Mitchell 4 – 2 0 1 0
Lance Witherspoon 1 – 0 0 0 0
Levy Brown 4 – 4 0 0 0
Defense U-A SCK TFL FF
Steve Watson 2 – 3 0.5 1.5 1
Donovan Morgan 2 – 0 0 0 0
Jeff Hughley 2 – 1 0 1 0
LaRico Stevenson 4 – 1 0 0 0
Andre Burns 2 – 0 0 0 0
Terrance Carter 1 – 0 0 1 0
Odie Armstrong 1 – 0 0 0 0
Jamar Ransom 4 – 0 0 0 0
Gabe Nyenhuis 1 – 1 0.5 0.5 0
Adam Huebner 1 – 0 0 0 0
Chris Royal 7 – 1 0 1 0
Terrell Mingo 7 – 3 0 0 0